Vintage Computer Forum - Later PCshttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/
386 and 486 class systems only please.enFri, 22 Feb 2019 17:13:42 GMTvBulletin60http://www.vcfed.org/forum/images/misc/rss.pngVintage Computer Forum - Later PCshttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/
386 board with a 8254 failure reported by Supersoft/Landark test ROMShttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68511-386-board-with-a-8254-failure-reported-by-Supersoft-Landark-test-ROMS&goto=newpost
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 05:21:53 GMTTitle about says it all. The board is a no-name clone. I have read this is programmable timer. So I can't just solder in a new one, if I could find it on the board.
Or is there a fairly easy fix for this I don't know about?
Thanks
]]>Later PCsKLund1http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68511-386-board-with-a-8254-failure-reported-by-Supersoft-Landark-test-ROMSNeed help figuring out what motherboard I needhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68473-Need-help-figuring-out-what-motherboard-I-need&goto=newpost
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 02:48:30 GMTI'm so upset right now. I dug out the old 486 from my childhood in hopes of getting it going, only to realize that at some point I must have thrown the motherboard away. I remember taking it out to try and retrofit a modern board in the tower, but now it's gone. I've done some googling and ebaying to try and find the same board, but I really don't know if I'm even getting close. Hopefully someone here can tell me what I need.

There is a sticker on the back of the case that says the model number is 433sx/ds, but Internet searching for that one is getting nowhere. :( The computer is a Dell Precision 486/SX. I can't even find a picture of a similar computer online. Quite discouraging. DSC_0045.jpgDSC_0043.jpg

Sorry about the quality of the front picture - didn't notice it was so fuzzy when I took it. I can take another one and add it later if that would be helpful.

]]>Later PCsRWIndianahttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68473-Need-help-figuring-out-what-motherboard-I-needIBM PS/1 Model 2121 CPU Upgrade (386 to 486)http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68455-IBM-PS-1-Model-2121-CPU-Upgrade-(386-to-486)&goto=newpost
Sun, 17 Feb 2019 23:18:46 GMTHey all! I recently attempted to follow the example set forth on this blog: http://www.zonadepruebas.com/viewtopic.php?t=6184 and upgrade my IBM...Hey all! I recently attempted to follow the example set forth on this blog: http://www.zonadepruebas.com/viewtopic.php?t=6184 and upgrade my IBM PS/1's CPU from an Intel 386SX to a Ti 486. See attached photos of my solder-in replacement. However, when I turn the computer on, I do not seem to be getting the stellar test results that blog post seems to be showing. In fact... I am showing some very strange results indeed. CheckIt 3.0 states that my CPU is a 164 Mhz 486 (yikes! I wish...) and CheckIt Pro seems to think my CPU is 20 Mhz (instead of the 33 Mhz designation on the chip.) What might be happening here?

]]>Later PCstwillkickershttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68455-IBM-PS-1-Model-2121-CPU-Upgrade-(386-to-486)SB CD-ROM not recognized by DOShttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68422-SB-CD-ROM-not-recognized-by-DOS&goto=newpost
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 21:33:39 GMTI've looked all over and can't find a simple answer to this. I formatted the drive but I know that the CD drive worked before I did this. The CD cable is connected to the SB16 sound card. I just want to be able to use the CD drive in DOS. IMGburn won't recognize my USB external 3.5" floppy so that's out as far as making a disk image goes... can anyone help me out here?

With 40 MHz FSB 486 CPUs (such as Am486 DX2-80 and Am486 DX4-120), what VLB and PCI motherboards can surely have the actual VLB or PCI slots actually running at actual 40 MHz without needing to add crappy wait states or down-clocking the slots at 27 MHz?

Do you know if a motherboard with the UMC chipsets UM8498F and UM8496F can be the above unicorn?

]]>Later PCsRetroSpector78http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68368-Attempt-at-a-time-period-correct-386sx40Filling the DOS gap of the at that time so-called Windows Accelerator SVGA cardshttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68348-Filling-the-DOS-gap-of-the-at-that-time-so-called-Windows-Accelerator-SVGA-cards&goto=newpost
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 03:45:39 GMTHello retro friends! :)
I was wondering...
Remember that in the good old days we were all puzzled by the following to be or not to be...Hello retro friends! :)

I was wondering...

Remember that in the good old days we were all puzzled by the following to be or not to be situation:

• Either go with older SVGA cards which are great for DOS performance and DOS games (of course the first example that comes up is the Tseng ET4000), but suffer under Windows 3.xx, Windows 3.xx games, and slightly more modern games
• Or go with the at the time brand new novelty "windows accelerator" SVGA cards (S3, Number Nine, and companies, etc.) but suffer slower performances under DOS and DOS games. At this regard I reviewed tons of benchmarks on very old PC magazines and saw that all the beautiful Windows Accelerator cards really sucked under DOS.

I was wondering:
Going a little "over" time and installing in a 486 and a P1 system (MS-DOS 6.22 and Win 3.11 for workgroup) a PCI SVGA that is a little mode modern (less retro), like that for those '90-'93 years would really be like a beast, would brute-force DOS performances in such a way that, even if it is a "windows accelerator" graphic card (Actually even more modern), and even if the whatever old DOS apps and games do not have specific drivers, via brute force it would still give astonishing performances and completely fill the gap, as if there was installed the bestest of the best ever MS-DOS SVGA card and, for each DOS game and app, such card having the specific drivers?
Like, even if the card's not optimized, the drivers are generic, so that DOS game whatever (even 3D) would have to have the SVGA make nutty turns to get from A to B instead of going in a straight line, who cares, the DOS-relative gazillioned clock or computing power of the card would compensate and pass the requrements, more or less...

If so, what would that (or those) card(s) be, without going TOOOOO modern, and with an eye con crash-issues prevention?

Thanks a lot!
]]>Later PCsAriesMuhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68348-Filling-the-DOS-gap-of-the-at-that-time-so-called-Windows-Accelerator-SVGA-cardshttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68308-Garbled-screen-and-486-won-t-boot&goto=newpost
Fri, 08 Feb 2019 03:05:33 GMTJust put together a computer with a 133mhz AMD 5x86 but I'm getting some very odd behavior with it. Sometimes it won't post, sometimes it freezes while detecting hard drives or when trying to boot, sometimes the screen is just a garbled mess. Just very inconsistent. So far I ruled out the cpu, ram, any of the drives and the video card. I'm thinking the issue is the motherboard. Maybe a bad bios?
]]>Later PCsRadRacer203http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68308-Garbled-screen-and-486-won-t-bootAOX OS/Master for the MicroMaster / MC Master AOX / Kingston MCA Adapterhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68305-AOX-OS-Master-for-the-MicroMaster-MC-Master-AOX-Kingston-MCA-Adapter&goto=newpost
Thu, 07 Feb 2019 22:21:12 GMTHello friends..

So there's a few micro channel adapters made in the wild by AOX/Kingston with a 386 or 486 attached with an additional memory subsystem on adapter. (MicroMaster/MC Master)

It's primary purpose was to "upgrade" your slower machine to a faster one via a slot. Somehow, magically, it was able to usurp the primary processor and switch over to the one located in the micro channel slot.

Supposedly, AOX also had a software product, OS/Master that included an initiation and config program that would enable you to install multiple CPU adapters into a machine, and you could utilize more than one processor at a time, or even the main system proc and the one on the Master.

I don't suppose anyone has a lead on such a program, or any additional info that might be handy in filling in holes... there's not a terribly large amount of info available on this guy.

Thanks,
Lorenzo
]]>Later PCschulofiascohttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68305-AOX-OS-Master-for-the-MicroMaster-MC-Master-AOX-Kingston-MCA-AdapterURGENT: Seattle: Home needed for a number of old computers!http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68283-URGENT-Seattle-Home-needed-for-a-number-of-old-computers!&goto=newpost
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 23:19:58 GMTA coworker in an office in Seattle, in the Fremont area, needs to *immediately* find someone to adopt a ton of old computers, including a number of...A coworker in an office in Seattle, in the Fremont area, needs to immediately find someone to adopt a ton of old computers, including a number of Apple computers and--of note for this genre--some 486+ PCs. There's also at least one IBM PC in there.

Also if anyone has any recommendations of who to contact (VCF PNW people especially), do let me know!
]]>Later PCsJNZhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68283-URGENT-Seattle-Home-needed-for-a-number-of-old-computers!http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68274-Intel-iSBC386AT-iSBC386AT-25-SYP301-SYP301Z-amp-SYP302-AT-Compatible-386-Boards&goto=newpost
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 17:06:41 GMT￼I recently got an Intel iSBC386AT motherboard and a NOS Intel PC case w/ power supply to go with it. I even found two of the proprietary Intel iSBC386MEM020 2MB 32 bit ISA memory expansion cards! Hopefully I can create a working system soon. However, there is pretty much no documentation on the internet for these boards other than magazine articles and advertisements. Documentation would be helpful for setting up things like the onboard serial and parallel headers and help demystify what the dozens of jumpers do.

This is the information I've gathered so far:

Apparently, the motherboard I bought is called the Intel iSBC386AT, which is one of, if not the first IBM AT compatible 386 motherboard. There was a complete PC offered by Intel that uses the iSBC386AT called the SYP301. There's also a motherboard called the iSBC386AT/25A which is completely different, and the complete system with an iSBC386AT/25A is called the SYP302. On top of that, there's the SYP301Z (I don't know what the motherboard by itself is called), which is similar to the SYP301, but features zero wait states, hence the suffix "Z". There's also an SYP301X, which is the same as the SYP301 but with "less features." The iSBC386AT has a 16MHz 80386DX, 512KB of onboard memory, eight ISA slots (two 8bit, four 16bit, two for proprietary 32bit memory expansion bus which are 8bit backwards compatible), and a slot for a math coprocessor. From what I've read, early models of the iSBC386AT did't support the 80387, and had to use a 80287 with a special adapter board. This was fixed in later revisions (circa late 1987?). I have no idea what the motherboard in the SYP301Z or SYP301X looks like, but I'm assuming it's pretty much the same as the iSBC386AT. I know for a fact that they all have a 16MHZ CPU. The successor to the iSBC386AT, the iSBC386AT/25, is pretty well documented however. The technical reference manual is available online under the name "Intel System 302 Technical Reference." The iSBC386AT/25 has a 25MHz 80386DX, 1-8MB of onboard memory, 64KB of built in cache, eight ISA slots (one 8bit, five 16bit, two for the AT32 bus interface, another 32 bit memory expansion bus which is 16 bit backwards compatible), and a socket for the 80387. On top of that, the iSBC386AT/25 has onboard SIMM sockets which can be used to expand memory, unlike its predecessor. Intel also offered memory expansion boards for their proprietary 32 bit expansion slots, along with a few third parties. The Intel memory expansion boards for the iSBC386AT are called the iSBC386MEM020 and iSBC386MEM080 which add 2MB and 8MB of 32 bit addressable memory respectively. An Intel memory expansion board for the iSBC386AT/25 is also mentioned as the "ATEM8" and I assume it adds 8MB from the name.

Anyway, the main reason I made this post is to ask for help. If there's anyone out there who knows anything about these systems, perhaps by seeing them back in the day or working with them, please share your info. Also, if anyone has any Intel documentation relating to the Intel SYP301, please try to scan and archive it, as there is no official Intel documentation on the internet at all.

]]>Later PCswillmurray461http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68274-Intel-iSBC386AT-iSBC386AT-25-SYP301-SYP301Z-amp-SYP302-AT-Compatible-386-BoardsNew 486 Buildhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68206-New-486-Build&goto=newpost
Sat, 02 Feb 2019 22:41:36 GMTJust wanted to share the 486 I just built. It's an AMD 5x86 133mhz on a pci motherboard, 48mb of ram, a Sound Blaster 16 with Sony CD drive, 4mb ATI 3D Rage 2+ with composite out, 2gb hard drive, 1.44mb/ 360k floppy drives, all wrapped up in an XT clone case with a BMC monochrome composite monitor. It's not quite done- the 360k drive stopped working and I'm planning on adding some more bits and pieces and retrobriting the front of the case. Plus I have to get some bolts for the case to hinge open on. But right now it's working well and I've been playing some Doom on it today. It sure reminds me of of something from Fallout with the monochrome screen!Message_1549141678875.jpgMessage_1549141885956.jpgMessage_1549133350028.jpg

]]>Later PCsRadRacer203http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68206-New-486-Buildhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68179-486-won-t-post-or-boot&goto=newpost
Fri, 01 Feb 2019 22:14:04 GMTI picked up a HP 5110 it has a acer a1gx motherboard with 486 dx4 100 and it powers up, but its not making any beeps at all, and isn't putting out a video signal. I tried stripping everything off it and I replaced the battery. I don't have another memory stick to try so I am going to order one tonight. When I unplug the CD drive from the motherboard it, but not the power supply then it will open and close but when plugged to the board it does nothing. Normally I'd probably just strip it for parts and save them for later, but since it came with the original mouse, keyboard, speakers, cables, install disks, and didn't have a speck of dust inside I really want to get it working, it was even still plugged into the phone line and a dot matrix printer when I got it. Partly I just want to play wizardry and some other games that came with it.

If I can find another motherboard that is exactly the same, can I just swap them out or will I have to do anything with the bios? My computer skills are not good, I'm learning but it's a slow process.

Any advice would be appreciated, most of the computers I get are pentiums or newer, I don't know if working on these is any different.
]]>Later PCsDelayhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68179-486-won-t-post-or-bootQuestions about Make it 486 on a 386sxhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68148-Questions-about-Make-it-486-on-a-386sx&goto=newpost
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 02:45:52 GMTI bought a Make it 486 for my 386sx. Is it plug and play or do I need to do something additional?Attachment 50977...I bought a Make it 486 for my 386sx. Is it plug and play or do I need to do something additional?s-l1600.jpg

]]>Later PCsFanatikhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68148-Questions-about-Make-it-486-on-a-386sx486 On-board Video Faster than a Diamond Speedstar Card?http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68114-486-On-board-Video-Faster-than-a-Diamond-Speedstar-Card&goto=newpost
Tue, 29 Jan 2019 04:35:31 GMTI just ran all of Phil's benchmarks and the onboard video beat the Speedstar in every category. Is this correct? It is a Tandy 3100 Model 10 486sx upgraded with an Evergreen 5x86 133mhz upgrade chip.
]]>Later PCsFanatikhttp://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?68114-486-On-board-Video-Faster-than-a-Diamond-Speedstar-Card